VietNamNet Bridge – Advanced medical techniques in cardiovascular surgery and interventions have been successfully transferred to provincial hospitals, saving the lives of hundreds of patients every year, doctors have said.

Historic moment: Doctors at Thong Nhat General Hospital in Dong Nai Province perform the first cardiovascular intervention at the hospital. Photo: VNS

In 2014, doctors at Khanh Hoa Province General Hospital performed cardiovascular surgery on the first patient, with technical assistance from cardiovascular surgeons of Cho Ray Hospital in HCM City.

The hospital performed similar operations on 60 patients, and nearly 100 cases of open-heart operations were carried out by the hospital’s cardiovascular surgeons over the last year, said Nguyen Van Xang, director of the hospital.

As part of the Ministry of Health’s satellite hospital project, Thong Nhat General Hospital in Dong Nai Province has received transfer of four technical packages in the field of cardiovascular interventions from Cho Ray Hospital since 2013.

The packages include percutaneous coronary intervention, percutaneous mitral commissurotomy, structural heart disease interventions and peripheral vascular interventions.

In January 2015, the hospital opened a heart centre for cardiac monitoring and procedures, with the first four cases of cardiovascular interventions successfully conducted the following month.

A total of 281 patients underwent cardiac procedures at the centre in the first six months of this year, said Tran Thi Quynh Hương, deputy director of the hospital.

Of that figure, cardiovascular surgeons at the centre performed more than 240 cases without technical assistance from Cho Ray Hospital, Huong said.

The number of patients being transferred to higher-level hospitals for treatment decreased to 1.05 per cent from 47.4 per cent in 2013.

Cardiovascular intervention is a complex specialty that requires huge investment in medical equipment and facilities as well as qualified physicians, according to Nguyen Thuong Nghia, deputy director of Cho Ray Hospital’s Heart Centre.

The high demand for cardiac monitoring and procedures among patients at provincial hospitals cannot be met by local hospitals.

With transfer of medical techniques from cardiovascular surgeons at central hospitals, local patients with heart disease will receive benefits from examination and treatment at local hospitals, especially for emergency cases that require timely treatment.   

Luong Ngoc Khue, director of the Health Ministry’s Medical Examination and Treatment Management Department, called for support from local authorities for investment in medical facilities and human resources at provincial hospitals.

“Having qualified medical professionals is a key factor for development of medical establishments,” he said. “Local authorities and leaders of provincial hospitals should develop preferential policies to attract and retain physicians who want to move to higher level hospitals.”

Under the first phase of satellite hospital project approved by the Ministry of Health in 2013, Cho Ray Hospital was chosen as a “core hospital” responsible for transferring advanced medical techniques to four hospitals: Tien Giang Province General Hospital, Khanh Hoa Province General Hospital, Dong Nai Province General Hospital and Thong Nhat General Hospital in Dong Nai Province.

Technical transfer focuses on cardiology and trauma orthopedics.

In the second phase, the hospital will expand the network of satellite hospitals to 19 hospitals by 2020.  

VNS